WATCH: Students take stress break at petting zoo

As the lawn outside the Student Union filled with zoo animals on Tuesday, crowds gathered for a chance to pet the various wildlife brought in by the Activities Programming Board.

The animals ranged from farm animals like chickens, goats and rabbits to a kangaroo, camel and a llama.

Alecia Siegel, director of special events on the E-board for APB, said she thinks the event is helpful for students to relieve stress for finals.

Leah Koch, coordinator of programming at NKU, said she also felt like the animals help relieve stress for students.

“We just wanted to bring out some animals and have a fun relaxing event for students to enjoy if they’re going between classes or at lunch,” Koch said. “We’re coming up on finals week and there’s a lot going on so this is just an opportunity for students to take a breath, relax and enjoy themselves.”

Many students stopped by the animal corrals between classes to take pictures and walk with the animals. The Stray Animal Adoption Program (SAAP) also made an appearance in coordination with the petting zoo event.

Dogs ready for adoption were available for students to pet and walk and were also a part of the testing stress relief program.

SAAP is hoping that the dogs can help people with their text anxiety and also provide lifelong friends to their rescue dogs.

Onyi Okorie, a member of the special events committee, said the petting zoo helps bring the campus together.

“Everyone is coming together and it really unites the campus, it’s a really fun way of doing that especially with the stress of finals next week,” Okorie said. “It shows that NKU, we’re not like any other campus.”